Leaving the metaphysical phase of my writing behind, I will again intend to write recommending and describing Argentina’s touristic treasures, trying not to mention anything about contemporary politics and focusing, in geography, history and infrastructure.
Today’s column will be about Argentine sports possibilities, which as far as I am writing I understand I have material to fill the whole newspaper.
I shall begin with water sports and will include of course the frozen water…snow.
First thing to understand a sport could be its nature, and mainly that each sport comes from human methods for survival. A man saw a fish under the water and imagined that fish in his mouth and stomach, and invented several methods which are now called different specialties.
My favourite by far is fly-fishing and, here in Argentina, mainly in Patagonia, we fish the trout. The further south you may get, the bigger they will be. In case you are in the mood for the best fly-fishing in Argentina get in contact with www.nervouswaters.com, no doubt the best lodges and fishing.
The same company has a lodge called Pirá, immersed in the Esteros del Ibera in Corrientes province, were they practically discovered fly-fishing.
Other thing is fishing from the Atlantic coast, and this is definitely cheaper. All along the coast you have good fishing, Mar del Plata, Balneario Oriente, San Blas – where you can also fish shark in December from the coast if you are good and good lucking or in a boat.
Wake boarding, kite surfing and water skiing are available 30 minutes from the city in El Tigre, and you may be wondering what a wakeboard has to do with methods for survival… well I can say that procreation is by far the first adult human instinct to appear, and for sure wake boarding is pretty attractive for opposite sexes, and will perhaps incite to procreation.
In Puerto Madryn you can do scuba, and Patagonian lakes and our river in front of the city and ocean are great hosts for all kind of boats, yachts, and embarkations.
Waves and surfing are good in Mar del Plata and Necochea mainly, otherwise in the Uruguayan coast they get better. For wind surfing the options are many, by the coast and also in some lakes in Mendoza and San Luis, and other central provinces, in which the winds are perfect, and I mean perfect for this sport.
To twist by the pool, there’s opportunity in any hotel or ‘club de barrio’, and obviously all other natural aquatic environments.
Rafting is good in Mendoza and Misiones near the falls.
In terms of frozen water, called snow, for boards and skis the chances are many from Mendoza to Ushuaia all along the Andes.
Air sports, or shall I say activities that involve humans making weird activities in the sky. Paragliding, wherever mountains and heights unite in a combo are good. San Luis, Mendoza, San Martín de los Andes, even Tandil or Balcarce in Buenos Aires are perfect for this sport. There are few gliders clubs in Buenos Aires, like in Gonzales Chaves 450km from the capital city. In Bariloche during the summer, some of the world records for duration of flight take place, and – as a specialised pilot once told me – the sweat and body effort is as much as running a marathon. Parachuting is also available in Lobos, 120km from the city, I can recall my first jump into the abyss and I can say the free falling (that only lasts something like 30 seconds) were the best 30 seconds of my life: speed, face deformation and the whole plate seen from the sky, made that experience superior even to non-standard sex situations.
I think my column should get bigger if I want to continue, but the editor’s voice, imaginary whispers in my ear ‘shrink the column Alfonso’.
In order to fit in my space I will just make a list of other possible sports, car racing, motorcross, polo, trekking anywhere or in Chalten, horse riding wherever there is a horse, duck hunting, deer hunting, dove hunting, stop hunting, cycling, and of course rugby=Pumas, Tennis=Nalbandian or Vilas, football=Maradona, basketball=Ginobili, golf in Buenos Aires, Patagonia and Córdoba, etc etc.
Sports and travel, double fantasy…double fantasy.